Karnataka polls: Congress gets majority, ousts BJP to form government

Bangalore: The Congress has got majority in Karnataka and has ousted the BJP to form the government in the state. Reacting to the Congress's victory, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "I congratulates congress for working hard. Certainly corruption by BJP is a message of electorate. Corruption is a big issue for the country."

Congress President Sonia Gandhi said, "I am happy with the victory, it's a joint effort and legislators will decide the leader."

11:47 am: The Congress is all set to form the government in Karnataka with a clear majority. At 11:47 am, it was emerging as the single largest party with leads in 117 seats.

It now remains to be seen as to who will be the Chief Minister with Siddaramaiah and Mallikarjuna Kharge being the frontrunners.

The Congress is all set to form the government in Karnataka on its own. At 11:17 am the trends showed the Congress leading in 116 seats out of 223 followed by JDS (42) and the BJP (37). The Congress has also won 17 seats followed by JDS (2) and BJP (2).

Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's KJP was leading in just 12 seats, but had hurt the BJP badly in several constituencies. Smaller parties and independents were leading in 17 seats.

The elections were held in 223 seats because voting in Periyapatna constituency was postponed until May 28 following the death of the BJP candidate. The counting of votes is being held in 36 centres across Karnataka.